It was so heart breaking to hear of Kathy’s passing recently. We met Kathy in the early 1990s while she was finishing her PhD, and we were just starting ours at what was then the Botany Department at UQ. We have many happy memories from our informal picnic and tennis clubs, as well as dinner parties (including much fun at ‘How to Host a Murder’ parties), movies, camping trips and other activities that we shared with Kathy and later with Ray too. Before the card making phase there was a decoupage phase, and we used to share tips and designs. And then there was also the ‘let’s grow tulips in Brisbane’ phase, with much excitement when the bulbs finally sprouted and then flowered. We were so pleased to have Kathy and Ray come to our wedding many years ago. More recently, Stephen enjoyed becoming a colleague with Kathy at SRA for a few years. We are glad to have shared some very happy times with Kathy. She is missed and always will be.
I have a clear memory of meeting Kathy at the University of Queensland 42 years ago. She came and sat down beside me in a lecture theatre because she recognised me as a fellow 'Toowong High person'. It's been a pleasure knowing Kathy and having such a long friendship with her - picnics with the Picnic Club in the early years post-uni, in those young and care-free days when I could sit and lie on a picnic blanket without fear of doing myself an injury when it was time to get up! Sharing a mutual love of Mexican food at Pepe's and an interest in card-making and other crafts. Kathy's cards are lovely and were happily received in delightful hand-made envelopes, made from the pages of glossy magazines, which also invited close inspection, much to Kathy's amusement. I think of Kathy often and have lots of fond memories. To Ray, Yvonne, Jennifer, Richard and David, I express my sorrow. I know Kathy's passing leaves a huge hole in your lives. Love Cassie xo
Dear Ray and Family, I am so sorry for your loss. I echo the sentiments of the beautiful tributes I have been reading - Kathy was a wonderful person and an excellent scientist. I learnt a lot from Kathy and valued her sage advice, both personally and professionally. I still hear her words, motivating me to do my best in the lab. I too treasure my Kathy-made cards. So perfectly constructed and so thoughtfully designed. Whenever I go to craft exhibitions I am reminded of Kathy and the stories of her crafting activities. I think of you both whenever I encounter koalas because I was lucky enough to see you married, and koalas always remind me of your wedding. Kathy was always in my thoughts when I travelled to Athens with my family, because she gave my daughter a squishy cow which went everywhere with us and features in all our photos. And I think about Kathy every time I peel an orange or a mandarin, because of many a jovial discussion during our lunchtime card game about how she didn’t like the pith. We had so many fun times together and she has blessed me with so many happy memories. I feel honoured to have known such a wonderful woman. Kathy will live in my heart forever.
Dear Ray and family, I am so sorry for your loss and thank you for the opportunity to honour Kathy. Kathy was a dear friend and a work colleague, and I will miss her very much. Kathy was an esteemed scientist, recognized for her discovery of causes of major sugarcane diseases and many achievements throughout her career as a plant pathologist. She was respected and well known across the Australian sugar industry and throughout the scientific community. I had the privilege of working with Kathy for many years at BSES/SRA and I also have shared joyful times with her, at project related field trips, conferences and weekend get togethers, exploring art exhibitions or just enjoying lunch at the Polish restaurant. Kathy had a lovely sense of humour and I admired and respected her brave stand when expressing her opinion, when she felt it necessary. I am privileged to have known Kathy and her memory will remain with me, the many beautiful handmade cards that Kathy gifted me will be a lovely reminder of happier times. Kathy you will be terribly missed. Rest in peace.
Kathy, a fellow sugarcane pathologist, has been an esteemed friend of mine since the early 1990s. She was a remarkable person, very friendly and considerate. Dedicated and focused on her work, Kathy and I grew up together in our careers as pathologists. I hold the utmost respect and admiration for her as well as for her remarkable achievements in our field.Since the early days, Kathy and I often discussed various mysterious diseases of sugarcane. She was always eager to investigate these enigmas, and each time we met at ISSCT Pathology workshops, she would hint at her latest findings, saying, “Something is coming up soon.” Kathy’s work spanned many diseases, Ramu stunt, orange rust, sugarcane smut, but her most significant achievement was co-discovering the causal agent of sugarcane chlorotic streak disease, which had baffled pathologists since the 1920s. The organism turned out to be a novel member of the phylum Cercozoa, explaining field observations of movement in irrigation and flood waters. This quickly led to the development of better methods to screen sugarcane clones to assess their resistance to the disease.As Chairman of the Pathology Section of ISSCT, I felt that Kathy needed to present these results at the ISSCT Congress in Thailand in 2016. She did attend and delivered a talk that earned her the Best Paper award in the Pathology section. We took a photo together as she was heading to the airport. I told her I would always cherish that photo with the renowned pathologist who solved the one-century mystery of chlorotic streak. That was the last time I saw her.
Goodbye, Kathy. May you continue to make many discoveries in heaven.
On behalf of the Executive Committee of the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists
Dear Ray and family,
My deepest condolences on your loss of Kathy. Kathy was a highly valued member of the SRA pathology team. She was an outstanding scientist and an excellent team member. It was a pleasure to work with her in the team that discovered the cause of chlorotic streak. It was an outstanding achievement and Kathy was the key person who made the initial break throughs. Kathy's scientific papers were so well written that it was a privilege to be a co-author on many of her papers. Kathy played a critical behind the scenes role in the response to the sugarcane smut incursion, confirming the field identification with molecular assays to meet the requirements of the government quarantine notices. Kathy’s sequencing of the genome of Ramu Stunt was another major achievement. Kathy also demonstrated her skill and meticulous work by conducting studies of variation and species identification of a number of fungi and insects that have increased our understanding and have been a basis for control programs. The sugar industry was fortunate to have such a dedicated and talented scientist in their research organisation.
Kathy was a valued friend and a pleasure to know. We will miss you Kathy!!
Love Barry and Sinikka Croft
Kathy, a fellow sugarcane pathologist, has been an esteemed friend of mine since the early 1990s. She was a remarkable person, very friendly and considerate. Dedicated and focused on her work, Kathy and I grew up together in our careers as pathologists. I hold the utmost respect and admiration for her as well as for her remarkable achievements in our field.Since the early days, Kathy and I often discussed various mysterious diseases of sugarcane. She was always eager to investigate these enigmas, and each time we met at ISSCT Pathology workshops, she would hint at her latest findings, saying, “Something is coming up soon.” Kathy’s work spanned many diseases, Ramu stunt, orange rust, sugarcane smut, but her most significant achievement was co-discovering the causal agent of sugarcane chlorotic streak disease, which had baffled pathologists since the 1920s. The organism turned out to be a novel member of the phylum Cercozoa, explaining field observations of movement in irrigation and flood waters. This quickly led to the development of better methods to screen sugarcane clones to assess their resistance to the disease.As Chairman of the Pathology Section of ISSCT, I felt that Kathy needed to present these results at the ISSCT Congress in Thailand in 2016. She did attend and delivered a talk that earned her the Best Paper award in the Pathology section. We took a photo together as she was heading to the airport. I told her I would always cherish that photo with the renowned pathologist who solved the one-century mystery of chlorotic streak. That was the last time I saw her.Goodbye, Kathy. May you continue to make many discoveries in heaven.Salem SaumtallyOn behalf of the Executive Committee of the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists
Kathy was one of my dearest friends, and we kept in touch on a regular basis since our university days. Kathy was such a bright and detected researcher and an inspiration to us all. Apart from our time at university, we had many happy times going for picnics, lunches, dinners and dancing where we both met our respective partners. We spent days doing crafts and attending nostalgia festivals to get our fix of vintage fashions and accessories. I was thrilled to be asked by Kathy and Ray to participate in their wedding ceremony which was held at a lovely bush setting at Walkabout Creek. On her retirement, Kathy’s love of travel turned to adventures in their motorhome. She was so very excited at buying the motorhome and we heard many a story of the places they had visited. Kathy, it is so tragic that you have left us way too early but you will live on in our hearts forever. Love to you always.
Dear Ray and family,
I am so sorry for your loss and it is with fond memories that I write this tribute. Kathy was a dear friend and colleague and I will miss her very much. Kathy was a brilliant and meticulous plant pathologist, renowned for her discovery and identification of elusive microorganisms causing major problems in the Australian sugar industry.
I have shared fun times with Kathy, working side-by-side in the office, lab, sugarcane fields, conferences and holidays too! She had a dry sense of humour and voiced her opinion, when she felt it was necessary . Other than work, Kathy was a beautiful card maker and I will forever cherish my collection of her creations. Her other interest was travel which included visiting art-deco buildings and more recently holidaying in her mobile home.
I am privileged to have known Kathy and her memory will remain with me especially when I make cards. Kathy you will be sorely missed by us.
Kathy and I were both undergrad and postgrad students together at UQ. I first met Kathy (or 'KB', as I called her) in a Plant Biochemistry class, in which neither of us could understand the foreign accent of one of our lecturers, which was definitely a great bonding experience! I'll remember fondly many Friday afternoons in the UQ Staff club (which no longer exists), with Kathy and our friends taking advantage of the free peanuts and cheap beers. Kathy was one of our founding members of what we loosely called the 'picnic club', together with Edward, Steve, Tricia, Agnieszka, Perry, Cassie and Vanessa (and later, Ray), which provided a lasting excuse for us to regularly get together right up to this year - always a laugh. Oh, Kathy, I will really miss you! You were such a wonderful friend.
Dear Ray and family,
I'm terribly sorry for your hardship and loss. Thank you for the opportunity to share and celebrate Kathy. I will always remember her dry wit and humour, she was a valued constant in our tearoom antics at SRA!
Much love, Eloise
I had the privilege of working with Kathy at BSES and SRA over a 20 year period. Kathy was one of the constants at the Indooroopilly site, exhibiting a sharp work (and social) mind and pouring her heart and soul into her work for the good of the sugar industry. Her chosen field of pathology is of critical industry importance and her work on uncovering the underlying causes of disease won prizes and awards as well as scientific recognition but most importantly, helped the industry. A high quality scientist and person, taken too soon - rest in peace Kathy!
Dear Ray & family. It was privilege for me to have met and worked with Kathy. She was a brilliant scientist as well as a good teacher and friend. We will miss her greatly. May God bless her soul.
Kathy was a wonderful person and an impactful scientist and will be sorely missed by all that worked with her. I had the privilege to co-supervise Kathy when she was a PhD student at UQ in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Together we explored an exciting new field of science where molecular biology was used to understand plant pathogen diversity and to determine how new plant pathogen variants would arise. Kathy was a talented student and a wonderful team member, liked by all and always available to help others in the laboratory. Kathy was reflective, considered and super-smart and her Ph D project and subsequent short postdoctoral project resulted in several important scientific publications in the field. It was with pride that after graduation we saw Dr Kathy make a career in this field and contribute to many science breakthroughs that assisted the Australian sugar industry. The last time I saw Kathy was at a ASSCT conference dinner in Toowoomba, she told me that she was preparing a grey nomad caravan trip around Australia and was happy to be off on new adventures. I am so very sad that Kathy has gone so soon and the loss for her friends and family must be heartbreaking . We are all blessed to have known her and for those that worked with her we will never forget her.
Dear Kathy, I have kept the two cards you made for my babies more than a decade ago. They are my treasures and always will be. You are always alive in our memories, in scientific papers, in Australian sugarcane disease diagnostic history.
